Glorfindel and Sauron
by just bob
Summary: Before he was the Dark Lord, Sauron charmed the great and the good of Middle Earth. This is how he came to Rivendell.


**A/N:** This story uses the same characters as my sister j_mercuryuk's fanfics "Lady Glorfindel" and "Past and Present", which I helped edit and proofread. I would advise you to seek them out here on , as they're rather good.

In the meantime, if the idea of a female Glorfindel bothers you on first read, tough. I suppose you could just imagine that it's a gay Glorfindel, since it doesn't affect the story in any substantive way, and there's nothing in the lore about his sexuality, but that's up to you.

Finally, this story appears by kind lack of litigation from the owners of the rights to Middle Earth fiction.

_**Glorfindel and Sauron**_

"Glorfindel, may I ask you a question?"

It was Aragorn's thirtieth birthday, and Elrond had reluctantly agreed to a small celebration at Imladris. A select group of his _Dunedain_ friends had been invited (all, as he was, barely out of their childhood), along with a dozen or so of Imladris' aristocracy, Gandalf the Grey and a handful of particularly close companions.

There had been hunting in the morning, followed by a feast in the evening. Elladan and Elrohir had led a conspiracy to present Aragorn with an easy shot at a deer, and he had taken it with ease. He also easily saw through their attempts to disguise their actions, but laughed it off as their birthday gift to him. The weight of age and responsibility was yet light on his young shoulders, and he still laughed easily and often.

The deer was taken as the centrepiece of the feast, surrounded by the best food and drink Imladris had to offer. Indeed, it had proven too rich for most, and the assemblage had dwindled as guests and residents wended, sated, to their beds.

Around the fifth hour after dusk, Elladan and Elrohir had managed to persuade a few of the more foolhardy _Dunedain_ into a drinking contest, but Aragorn had declined. He had been taken in by the twins' wiles on previous occasions, and was well aware of the comparative effects of wine on the half-elves.

Instead he had entered into a deep conversation with his good friend Lady Glorfindel, Captain of the Guard at Imladris. Now, dawn was approaching and their only remaining companion was Glorfindel's spouse Erestor, principal advisor to Lord Elrond. At the far end of the table, the drinking game appeared to be nearing a conclusion. The twins grinned at each other as a heavy-set man knocked over Elrohir's goblet with a wine pitcher while attempting clumsily to fill it.

Glorfindel raised an arched elven eyebrow at Aragorn's tentative question, and put down the goblet from which she had been sipping. "I am amused that you feel the need for permission. Is there something … personal you wished to inquire about? Something, perhaps, about the Lady Arwen?"

Aragorn blushed a colour assisted, no doubt, by the considerable amount of wine he had consumed, and tried to stare through the table at his knees. "No no! It's not that at all! It's just … something I have always been curious about, but it never seemed … well, maybe I should just ask, and you decide whether you wish to answer."

"Maybe you should," replied Erestor. "I was about to confess that the hour had bested me, and retire to my bed, with or without my Lady." He absently reached for her hand, which lay on the table next to her cup. "Now, however, you have piqued my curiosity."

Aragorn continued to gaze at the table for a moment, then looked back up to Glorfindel. "You fought in The Last Alliance of Elves and Men, right?"

"I fought in the last, and the first, and a great many in between. I have fought alongside a great many of your ancestors. Was it one of them you wished to ask about? If so, Erestor can probably answer better than I. He has a better overview of history than I, a better grasp of the … 'big picture', as I have heard you Arnorians say. All I can truly offer is a soldier's perspective."

"I have books in the library on Elendil, Isildur, Aenarion… Indeed, I know exactly on which shelves they are to be found, for Mithrandir has but recently requested them."

Aragorn shook his head. "It's not that either, but I suppose you can both help sate my curiosity, at that. Let me try again: You were both here, in Rivendell, when the war against the Dark Lord was coming. I mean, you knew not that it would be a war, because it hadn't happened yet. But you were here, right?"

A ranger slumped from his chair, and his goblet smashed noisily as it struck the hard stone floor. Elladan shrugged, and said something that made his brother laugh. The remaining rangers did not laugh. Either the comment had been in Elvish, or the humans had progressed beyond the point of speech recognition.

The elves looked back to the young _Dunedain_ prince. "Yes, we were here."

"And before that?"

Glorfindel smiled again. "Well, that depends; how long before?"

Aragorn marshalled his thoughts. "I have been taught that there was a time when the Dark Lord was not our enemy, but our friend. You were here when he approached Lord Elrond about the forging of Rings of Power."

Erestor nodded slowly. "You mean Lord Sauron. Now I begin to see the direction of your enquiry." His expression was neutral, showing neither amusement, nor any anger.

Aragorn pushed on. "I mean, you were here when he came … here. What I mean to ask is, what … What was he like? Did you meet him? In person?"

Then Glorfindel astonished the young ranger by laughing out loud. Her laugh was not a sweet, gentle lady's laugh – like the beautiful Lady Arwen's – but a warrior's laugh, from the belly. Aragorn glanced at Erestor, who also seemed startled.

"It seems that you have asked me a question that is personal after all, boy, although not in the way I meant. Did I meet Sauron during those years? My child, he courted me briefly!"

Aragorn was aghast, his mouth agape. He looked to Erestor, who was smiling again now, and it suddenly occurred to Aragorn that the elven Guard Captain must be mocking him. The anger must have shown on his face because, before he could utter a retort, Erestor spoke up. "It is true, I bore witness to it. After all, this was some centuries before Glorfindel and I were in love, or at least before my regard for her became conscious. It sometimes seems hard to believe that there was ever such a time, yet I was but one bystander who observed the relationship between Glorfindel and the visitor, Lord Sauron."

Aragorn shook his head in slightly dazed confusion, trying to reconcile this idea with his understanding of his guard captain friend and the dreaded Dark Lord. "How long did this go on for.

Glorfindel thought for a moment. "Five..? Yes, he paid court to me five times. Three at first, then he went away, then two when he returned. At the end of that fifth evening together, we both agreed not to have another. This is of course, if you do not count the initial interview."

"Interview?!"

Erestor took up this query. "Yes, he came to Imladris to find out about the settlement of Brithiach, a ford of the river Sirion in ancient Beleriand, or so he claimed."

"Why in the name of all the Valar would he want to know about that? I have never heard of the place?"

"He was conducting research for a book on the subject. He proposed a theory that the town there was far more significant than…" Erestor paused, looking slightly embarrassed. "The fact is that he had no interest in Brithiach whatsoever. There is nothing particularly significant about Brithiach. It was a lie that gave him an excuse to introduce himself at Imladris. I was convinced, though. I discussed the matter more than once with him without my suspicions being aroused."

"This was a great skill which he mastered," Glorfindel continued, "choosing lies that were convincing enough to pass cursory inspection, yet not interesting enough to merit deeper inspection. My relationship with him was peppered with such lies."

"And he claimed Glorfindel knew something about … Brithiach?"

"Not quite. He claimed to wish to interview every resident of Imladris who knew Beleriand before the fall of Gondolin, mainly for context. Looking back, it was his first obvious lie to us, and we should have seen it. I should have seen it."

"How could you see it? What was so obvious about it?"

"The fact that we had a couple who had lived in Brithiach, and yet he spent far less time with them than he did with me. Dalanduar and Mellerna spent fifty years in the town until they travelled upriver to care for their son near Barad Eithel, who was injured in a landslide, and then settled there until the upheavals of the end of the First Age, yet he was with them for less than an hour before seeking me out. He then spent the rest of the afternoon listening to me reminisce about Gondolin, despite the fact that I told him near the start that I had been stationed there from my first commission until … the End. I was yet quite recently returned from the Undying Lands, so my memories were still rather fresh. It is ironic indeed, considering that I now know I was sent back especially to combat Sauron himself, yet it was comforting to speak to another who had known those times, albeit from a different perspective."

Understandably, this thought displeased her considerably. Erestor put a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"So you knew he had been a servant of Morgoth? Why did you not reject him immediately?"

"Mainly because he had glamour and charisma, and set us off-guard. He also had a letter of introduction from one of the southern lords, down near Umbar. I believe the letter implied that he had the personal approval of King Gil-Galad, but I know this to be untrue, since I was there when Lord Elrond introduce him to the king. His Majesty then accepted him on Lord Elrond's recommendation, in fact. Whether the letter was a forgery, or whether he deceived that southern lord whose name I forget, I know not: another of his clever, forgettable little lies."

"This was his ultimate aim, of course, in coming to Imladris," Erestor took up the tale. "He sought to gain a standing invitation to our House, and through that become known to the highest echelons of Elven society. That is why, my Lady," and he turned Glorfindel's face to look deep into her eyes, "you should not blame yourself in any way for what came to pass. If he had not chosen you to meet his ends, he would have chosen someone else: Lady Morglar perhaps, or possibly even me. I do not believe that gender was of any great concern to one such as him.

"In fact, perhaps it is fortunate that he chose you. If he had chosen one who was less strong of heart than you, less independent, they might have formed a strong attachment, and been truly hurt when they had served his purpose."

Glorfindel flashed an ironic smile. "If that is your point, then Morglar is a poor example. I have not observed her taking great care over the hearts of those _she_ casts aside."

Erestor took on a thoughtful expression. "Mmm, perhaps so." Then he too smiled. They appeared to be sharing some manner of private joke.

The exchange confused Aragorn. _What is wrong with Lady Morglar? _he thought. _She has always been exceedingly friendly to me._ Still, he set aside this train of thought for the moment, in favour of the much more interesting subject matter. "What did he say about his service for the Enemy?" he continued.

"Very little," Glorfindel replied. "Even when I pressed him on the matter, during our third stepping-out, he would only say that Morgoth had compelled him to obey, and then insisted on changing the subject. I assumed that the subject was painful to him, and he did not wish to be reminded of it, yet it did distress me slightly that he refused to open up to me, at a period when our relationship should have been deepening. The next day, he left Imladris, although he bade me a fond farewell."

"And that was the end of the affair?"

"No. He returned some months later, among the company of Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn. I cannot remember how he explained his presence, but the visit had been arranged for some time, and he was known to us so nobody questioned him too deeply. I had only quite recently taken a post as sergeant among the guards, but I do not remember Halkagon, who was Captain at the time, batting an eyelid.

"He had been away for long enough that I had forgotten my misgivings, and he was still as charming as ever. He greeted me warmly, I responded, and it was like he had never left. The next time he paid court to me was as enjoyable as the first had been … save the end. When I told him I was to go on duty soon, he left abruptly, without the regret that had seemed so genuine before. As it happened, Halkagon returned from his patrol with tidings to report – some trouble involving dwarves out in the foothills, I think – and he bade me accompany him to Elrond's office. Sauron was there, engaged in some deep discussion with Elrond and Lord Celeborn. He appeared to be enjoying himself rather more than he had with me"

"Could he have been talking to them about the rings?" asked the young ranger eagerly.

"I do not believe so," Erestor answered. "It was not until he had been with us for several days that he broached the subject of ringlore, at the evening meal. I quickly became lost in the arcane terminology of the discussion, but Lady Galadriel, Lord Celeborn and Elrond were all captivated. They continued after the meal, conversing late into the night, as well as in the evening of the next day."

"Which irritated me, since he had promised to spend that evening with me!" Glorfindel said indignantly. "He was very apologetic, and tried to re-arrange, but the dwarven affair had taken a turn for the worse and I was to go out with my patrol to take matters in hand. I came back several days later in a foul mood, and so the evening went poorly. He could not quite disguise his reluctance to leave aside his new studies, and his evasions about his past began to grate on me. I pressed him more and more heavily for any kind of access to his inner feelings, and eventually he fled rather than have a confrontation. The next morning, he sought me out; to this day, I am unsure whether the break-up was my idea, or whether he just made it seem so. Either way, he handled it with consummate deftness. A fortnight or so later, one of the other sergeants approached me to ask if I minded him attempting to court Sauron, and I was surprised that he deemed it necessary."

"It availed him not, of course," Erestor continued for Glorfindel. "Sauron had what he wanted: a standing invitation to Imladris, and the confidence of such dignitaries as Elrond and Lady Galadriel. I do not believe he expressed another romantic interest, or even sentiment, ever again."

Aragorn paused a moment to take all this in. He had never considered The Dark Lord of Barad Dur as a real person who might interact with people before. He was having trouble fitting this concept into his view of the world. "What did Sauron-the-man actually look like?" he asked.

"His appearance varied," Erestor answered. "Sometimes small and blond, sometimes tall and dark, but almost always handsome. Occasionally he would change right in front of us."

"You always knew it was him, though," added Glorfindel. "If you ever met him once, you could always recognise him thereafter. He could have disguised himself perfectly, but I guess he was too narcissistic not to have all around him know who he was." She flashed a small, sardonic smile. "He settled for merely disguising his inner self."

"How did you become aware of his treachery?"

"Oh, that was years later." It was Erestor again. "Sauron spent much time travelling the lands, gathering support for his grand project, and then 'helping' all who he convinced to create Rings of Power. You might even say it became fashionable: many rings can still be found dating from that period with minor charms and spells. Lord Elrond's work was much prized, of course. Centuries later, he imbued our wedding rings with some small protective magics." He smiled down at his ring hand, still entwined with his spouse's.

"Erestor was the first to raise any note of warning about Sauron's deceit," Glorfindel said suddenly. "I am quite proud of him for that."

"Hush, my love!" There might just have been a hint of a blush to Erestor's elven cheeks. "You have no way of knowing that. It is true that, while he was still seen as the toast of Middle Earth's nobility, I came to Elrond to express some concern. A few inconsistencies had built up in my mind, and I perceived some danger in the course down which he was leading us. Lord Elrond listened to all I had to say, and promised to consider it carefully. I replied that it was merely my duty as his counsellor. He thanked my any way. I know not whether he already had doubts, or whether he had communicated any such doubts to King Gil-Galad, Lady Galadriel or Lord Cirdan. Certainly, all three Elven rings were forged in secret, so there was some caution ahead of the Last Alliance. Lord Elrond's council were not party to any such arrangements: the first we all heard of the trouble was when Lord Elrond called his council and commanders of the guard – Glorfindel included – and ordered us to mobilize for war."

Suddenly, Gandalf burst into the hall. The first sunlight of dawn streamed past him as his gaze swept the room and came to rest on Elladan and Elrohir, who still showed no evidence of intoxication, in marked contrast to the _Dunedain_ surrounding them. The last conscious human competitor turned blearily towards the door, saw Gandalf, and tried to stand up. His legs proved unequal to the task, and he collapsed to an undignified heap next to his chair.

"Mithrandir will not be pleased with us, my dear," Erestor said, grinning as the grey-robed wizard scolded the twins. "We have kept his _Dunedain_ prince from his bed. I suggest we attempt to deflect his ire by detaining young Aragorn no longer."

"An excellent idea," responded Glorfindel. Under Gandalf's instructions, the twins were attempting to rouse their defeated opponents. Threats rang in their ears that they would be made to carry the heavily built humans to their rooms if necessary. "There is one last thing which must be said, though. Never forget, boy, the evil that the Dark Lord brought into this world. I mentioned Dalanduar and Mellerna, who had known Brithiach from of old. They were both killed by the forces of Sauron during the war. Our column was ambushed by Southrons – led by one of the nobles who would later be known as Ringwraiths – on our way from here to Isengard. I did not arrive in time to prevent their advance party from being decimated, though we drove the enemy off and killed their commander."

"You killed one of the Ringwraiths?!" Half of Aragorn's attention had been distracted with plans for how he would escape punishment from the stern Gandalf, but astonishment once again drove other concerns from his mind.

"Not the wraiths. I know not whether they can be killed at all. It was the humans who were to become Ringwraiths that we initially faced in that war and, as it happens, I defeated three ere the end." Her expression turned to regret. "How was I to know that, when I struck them down, they would become more powerful than I could possibly imagine."

Erestor looked at his wife. "I have heard that phrase before, yet I cannot think where."

Glorfindel thought for a moment. "I do not remember either."

Erestor tapped the table a few times, then raised his finger. "I think it may be from Lord Saruman's famous treatise on the Nine Rings given to mortal men. I am not surprised that you have read it; it is truly a remarkable work. I doubt we will ever see a more definitive study on the subject."

"It is for good reason that they call him Saruman the Wise," said Gandalf from directly behind Aragorn, startling him to his feet. To his credit, he managed not to fall over. "And the Valar only know what he would think of me if he saw what you have been allowed to do this night, while under my care. Chief Arathorn too, whom you must succeed in due time. He believed you would be almost ready for the position come your thirtieth year, you know, yet when I see you like this I despair of your ever achieving sufficient _responsibility_!"

Aragorn's eyes remained fixed on his shoes. He dared not even speak. Finally, he saw Gandalf's hand rise, and knew he was pointing at the door. "Off to bed!" Gandalf commanded.

Relieved, he scurried to the door, not looking back. As a result, he did not see the wizard and the two elves grinning from ear to ear.


End file.
